“We have a shared vision of a pioneering structural design practice that truly integrates architecture and engineering. We enjoy working with a range of materials, forms and building types across diverse sectors and project scales to deliver extraordinary results. We have an international reputation for our structural glass designs as well as our work with steel, concrete and timber. From our offices in London, Paris and Shanghai, our structure and facade teams collaborate closely with architects, designers and clients throughout the UK, US and across the world.. Our service is strengthened by close collaboration with Eckersley O’Callaghan and Partners LLC, based in New York, which offers a similar range of engineering design services for North American projects and clients. We started in 2004 when Brian Eckersley and James O’Callaghan formed Eckersley O’Callaghan after working separately for many years as chartered engineers. Our team is now 45 strong and shares a belief in making the best buildings possible.”

Expertise:Structural Engineering – New ConstructionRenovationHistoric PreservationAdaptive ReuseStructural InvestigationBuilding EnvelopesSustainable Engineering
Profile:“This has been the vision of Silman since its beginning as a one-person New York based practice in 1966. Since then, Silman has grown to a staff of more than 130 among its three offices in New York, Washington DC, and Boston, of whom over 50 have professional registrations and more than 20 are LEED Accredited Professionals or Green Associates. To provide the highest quality structural engineering services possible, the principals have fostered an approach centered on constant collaboration among owners, architects, and other consultants. Our engineers are trained to be effective listeners, creative problem solvers, and knowledgeable about all facets of the construction process. After participating in more than 18,000 projects, Silman has earned recognition as one of the leading firms in the country for its innovative spirit in the design of new architectural works and the sensitive modification of existing structures.

History of Silman

In the late ’60s, our staff began to increase, and in 1970 Robert Silman formed the partnership Zoldos/Silman, Consulting Engineers.” [read more]

Company History:
Vaughn Construction was born out of the Vaughn family’s long history and trusted reputation in the construction industry. Today, Vaughn remains family owned, is one of the largest contractors in Texas, and is a leading builder of research, healthcare, higher education, and biomedical facilities in the marketplace.

History:“Hopkins Architects have helped pioneer British architecture since our founding by Sir Michael Hopkins in 1976. The Practice is now led by six Senior Partners and we are based in London, having completed projects throughout the world. Our deeply-rooted architectural, environmental and social convictions guide our designs and we work confidently and collaboratively in a manner appropriate to each client’s needs, ambitions and budget.

At the heart of the Practice’s organisation are Design Teams, which are formed to take a new project from inception to completion and ensure continuity of brief and design intent. These teams are led by a Senior Partner who collaborates on each project with leading engineers, cost-control consultants and other specialists. Experience has taught us that the best buildings come from close cooperation between ourselves, our consultants, and the client and their advisors and we approach every project with this in mind.

We take great pride in our adaptability throughout the design and construction process and we have worked with varied clients ranging from individuals to city councils to Boards of Trustees to developers. We work from offices which we designed ourselves in Marylebone that house a team of approximately 80 architects and staff. In addition, we operate a second Design Studio in Dubai and maintain Project Offices in Tokyo, Shanghai and Munich. The size of our practice has allowed us to gain a breadth of experience from projects in a variety of sectors while maintaining an intimate connection to the development of each design.” [Source]

History:“In 1946, philosopher and engineer Ove Arup set up his consulting engineering business in London. In the more than 60 years that have followed, the business has grown into an international consulting firm of unparalleled scope, owned in trust for its employees and using the business principles that Ove Arup first set out – and which he articulated for posterity in 1970 in his forward-looking ‘key speech’.

Right from the start, Arup was known for its close and exceptionally productive collaborations with leading and avant-garde architects. In its first two decades, the firm expanded rapidly, and earned a formidable reputation for devising advanced and economical solutions for buildings – a reputation it still enjoys today.

By 1976, Arup’s reputation had become truly global with the completion of the Sydney Opera House. By this time, the firm had opened offices in Northern Europe, Southern Africa, South East Asia and Australia. Its breadth of expertise was already considerable: this ranged fromoffshore engineering, acoustics, facades, and specialist skills such as impact, blast, risk and seismic engineering, to relatively-niche areas such as designing transportation containers for nuclear waste.

Arup’s work goes beyond buildings and infrastructure, however. We collaborated with car manufacturers on the design of the SuperLight car, which uses considerably less energy than the petrol equivalent. Through our Operational Readiness, Activation and Transition (ORAT) service we help clients and other stakeholders plan for the seamless opening and operation of major facilities like airports and hospitals or for major events. Arup has also developed a range of proprietary computer modelling tools which it sells around the world, as well as innovations such as our SoundLab, an aural-realisation tool with which clients can hear subjectively how different design options perform acoustically – before they are actually built.

Arup now has over 91 offices across Europe, North America, Africa, Australasia and South East Asia. We employ more than 11,000 people globally. Our revenue in the year ending March 2014 exceeded £1bn.” (Source)

History:Austin started out as Austin Brothers Bridge Company in 1894 when George and Frank Austin teamed up to form their own bridge building company in Dallas. In 1918, they decided to primarily focus on bridge fabrication, and the contracting part of the company was purchased by Charles R. Moore, who changed the name to Austin Bridge Company and Associated Companies in 1924. In 1974, Austin Industries, the parent company of Austin Commercial , was formed as the company began to diversify their portfolio. Austin Commercial was founded one year later as the company began to enter the commercial building market. Today Austin Industries maintains three branches: Austin Bridge & Road, Austin Commercial, and Austin Industrial (founded in 1983).

In 1986, Charles Moore’s grandson, William T.Solomon, transferred 60 percent ownership of the company to its employees at no cost and set up a plan for the company to be completely employee-owned by the year 2000. This plan worked out, and today Austin Industries exists as an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, company.

Austin Commercial now operates in 10 offices spanning five states, and is one of the largest and most diversified commercial construction companies in the United States.

History:“Louis Spaw and Frank Glass first met at Rice University in the late 1930s. Fifteen years later, the pair crossed paths once again and started their own construction company – SpawGlass. Completed in 1953, SpawGlass’s first project was a $1,080.18 enclosure of a porch belonging to the organist of Louis Spaw’s church. Now, 61 years later, SpawGlass’s revenue exceeds $475 million per year.

While many things have changed over the past 61 years, the company’s commitment to providing the highest standards of service and quality remains the same. We are driven to achieve our mission to provide our clients with the absolute best construction experience, resulting in long-term relationships with clients, architects and specialty contractors.” (source)